CANTON The first vials of the COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Stark County early Tuesday morning.

Aultman Hospital received a shipment of 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Tuesday, as part of an early rollout of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that has so far killed more than 7,550 Ohioans.

Aultman was one of 10 hospitals in the state to receive initial doses of the vaccine. It expects to begin administering the first doses of the two-shot vaccine to frontline health care workers on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Aultman released a video Tuesday documenting the arrival of the vaccine in a UPS truck at the Canton hospital, where it was unpacked and placed in an ultra-cold freezer. The vaccine must be stored at extremely low temperatures.

"Today, hope has arrived," a voiceover in the video says.

The Aultman Health Foundation is Stark County's largest health provider and has more than 7,000 employees across its network, which includes hospitals in Canton, Alliance and Orrville.

The Ohio Department of Health has announced a phased approach to vaccine distribution.

Those first in line are frontline health care workers and others involved in the care of COVID-19 patients; residents and staff of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, state psychiatric hospitals, group homes, Ohio veterans homes, and centers for those mental illnesses or disabilities; and EMS first responders.

Reach Jessica at 330-580-8322 or jessica.holbrook@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @jholbrookREP. 

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Source: The Canton Repository